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The term gulden was used in the Holy Roman Empire during the 14th to 16th centuries in generic reference to gold coins. Currency became more standardized with the imperial reform of 1559. In the early modern period, the value of a gulden was expressed in standardized form (Rechnungsgulden), and in some instances, silver coins were minted designed to have the value corresponding to one gulden. The Rhenish gulden (florenus Rheni) was issued by Trier, Cologne and Mainz in the 14th and 15th centuries. Basel minted its own Apfelgulden between 1429 and 1509. Berne and Solothurn followed in the 1480s, Fribourg in 1509 and Zürich in 1510, and other towns in the 17th century, resulting in a fragmented system of local currencies in the early modern Switzerland.

With increasingly standardized currencies in the early modern period, gulden or guilder became a term for various early modern and modern currencies, detached from actual gold coins, in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Giru or Gil, the fictional currency of the Final Fantasy video game series was based on the Japanese pronunciation of the Guilder, "Girudaa/ギルダー". Its fellow contemporary RPG series, the Phantasy Star series; based its Meseta on the Spanish Peseta.